Bloomberg in a Bubble

Billionaire mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, had this to say about newly elected Congressmen and women while in Hong Kong for a trade summit:

If you look at the U.S., you look at who we are electing to Congress, to the Senate, they can't read.  I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports. We're about to start a trade war with China if we're not careful here - only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is. 

This is an astonishing statement on many levels.  First, there's the irony -- a day earlier Bloomberg had been in the news for calling President Obama the "most arrogant man" he'd ever met.   Hello, pot?  It's a kettle called Bloomberg.  You're black.

Second, it's so obviously wrong.  To give just a few examples: Sean Duffy, newly elected to Congress in Wisconsin, has a law degree and has served with distinction as a District Attorney in Ashland County for eight years.   Nan Hayworth (a college classmate of mine), elected to Congress from New York, graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and then went to medical school; she's an opthalmologist.  Lt. Col. Allen West, elected to Congress from Florida, is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has two Master's Degrees -- oh, by the way, he also has a Bronze Star, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Valorous Unit Award, an Air Assault Badge, and a Parachutist Badge.  These are accomplished people, not people who "can't read." 

Finally, and this is maybe the most astonishing point -- Bloomberg's comment is stupid in itself.  Why would Bloomberg, overseas speaking as a recognized authoritative voice from America, bad mouth our newly elected Congressmen and women?  What is gained by doing so?  How are America's interests furthered by saying this?

I'd bet $100 that the average education level of the average newly elected Congressman is substantially higher than the average education level of the current Congressional Black Caucus.  (That's not to belittle them; it's just to show how silly it is to play the credentials game.)  But I'd also bet Bloomberg wouldn't dare say so, at least not to the effete snobs he talks to at Manhattan cocktail parties. 

He's not just arrogant, he's a hypocrite.